literally “true victory, self victory” from
katsu.
O’Sensei used this phrase to emphasize
the non-competitive nature and anti-conflict principles of aikido.

nanakorobi yaoki 七転び八起き

literally "seven times down, eight times up".

onegai shimasu お願いします

please, when asking for something.
In aikido, refers to “Please take care of me.”
Training begins with this saying in the hopes that there will be no injuries.
Compare to domo arigato gozaimasu.

numbers

一 ichi

二 ni

三 san

四 shi (yon)

五 go

六 roku

七 shichi (nana)

八 hachi

九 ku

十 ju

undo 運動

exercise, drill, form &

taiso 体操

physical exercise

funakogi undo 取り船

literally “boat-rowing exercise”.
Funakogi undo strengthens the hips and the wrists.
Hands are placed beside the hips, palm down and curled under.
To “row”, shift hips forward, then push hands out (with wrists still curled).
To “row” back, shift hips back, then pull hands in to hips (with wrists still curled).
Make sure to kiai. Compare to ikkyo undo.

happo undo 八方運動

literally “eight direction exercise” from
happo and undo.
Happo undo is an
extension of ikkyo. It can be practiced empty handed
or with a bokken, known as happo giri or
happo-no-giri.
The foot work and directions are slightly
different between empty handed and with a bokken.

ikkyo undo 一教運動

literally “first teaching exercise” from
ikkyo and undo. Ikkyo undo is
the empty handed version of ichi-no-ken-suburi.
To “cut”, first shift the hips forward, then raise the arms up,
then cut the arms down, and shift the hips back.
Compare to funakogi undo and zengo undo.

kimusubi no tachi 氣結びの太刀

literally “energy tying with the sword” from
ki, musubi, and tachi.
Refers to the final kumitachi exercise, sometimes known as the sixth kumitachi.

From a horse stance with arms relaxed at the side, shift to one side and swing both hands up, palm up.
Far hand should be at the body’s center and close hand should be 180 degrees from body.
Settle down into the position.
Shift to the other side and do the same.

From a horse stance with arms relaxed at the side, rotate 90 degrees into a hanmi
while bringing both hands up, palm down (as if to make a circle around the head).
Settle down into the hanmi while rotating the arms down, palms should be up.
Ending position should be the same as tai no henko.
Rotate 180 degrees bringing the hands up, palm down, and settle to do the othe side.

From a horse stance with arms relaxed at the side, rotate 90 degrees into a hanmi
while bringing both hands up, palm down (as if to make a circle around the head).
Settle down into the hanmi while rotating the arms down, palms should be up.
Inner arm should be held in front, outer hand should be 90 degrees to the outside.
Rotate 180 degrees bringing the hands up, palm down, and settle to do the othe side.

tai no henko 体の変更

literally “body change” from
tai and henko.
Sometimes known as the tenkan exercise.

ude furi undo 腕振ろ運動

footwork is the same as tai no henko
but arms raise up, palms out forming a circle around the head on the step forward,
and arms fall down, palms in forming a circle around the torso on the step back.

counter strikes to the body. Atemi is generally used to distract
uke and to cause a specific reaction from him/her e.g. an atemi to the face makes uke lean back
and often release a hand to block his/her face. In practice, we do not make physical contact when applying atemi.
However in “real life” applications, atemi can cause physical harm.

awase 合わせ

blending, harmonizing movement. Good awase can only be achieved when the timing of
uke and nage are matched.

barai 払い

sweep.

bo 棒

staff.

bokken 木剣

literally “staff sword” from
bo and ken. Refers to the
wooden training sword used in aiki-ken.
Iwama-ryu bokkens have a flattened tip and are without a hand-guard.
See Weapons →

literally “opposite half stance” from gyaku and hanmi.
Partners are in opposite hanmi i.e. one person has right foot forward, other person has left foot forward while facing each other. Different from
ai hanmi.

entering or putting in the body. Irimi techniques are done by entering
toward the front of uke. Compare to tenkan.

iriminage 入り身投げ

literally “entering throw” from irimi
and nage. Nage enters behind uke
and turns the same way uke is facing. Nage then draws uke onto their forward shoulder.
The throw is executed when nage does an irimi tenkan (with uke
still attached to the shoulder) and steps across behind uke.

irimi tenkan 入り身転換

literally “entering diversion” from
irimi and tenkan. An irimi tenkan is an
entering pivot.

Iwama-ryu 岩間流

Iwama style aikido.
O’Sensei began purchasing land in Iwama in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1935.
In 1942 with approximately 17 acres in Iwama, O’Sensei left Tokyo and moved permanently to Iwama
where he opened a dojo. The aikido that he taught in Iwama is the foundation of present day Iwama-ryu.

energy, mind/spirit, life force, universe, morale. Second kanji in the word aikido.

kiai 氣合

literally “energy combined” from
ki and ai. Refers to “fighting spirit” or
yell/scream that accompanies techniques. Kiai is an essential part of
aikido. It helps control breathing in techniques and ukemi.
The energy/vibrations and suddenness from kiai also help off-balance uke.

kihon 基本

basic, fundamental techniques in Japanese martial arts.
Iwama-ryu stresses kihon sometimes known as static training in the early stages.
This develops solid techniques and hip strength.

to breakout, to destroy or demolish, to pull down, to make change (money).
Refers to breaking the balance of an opponent by both making him/her unstable and putting
him/her in a position where regaining his/her center is impossible.

gratitude, bow. Aikidoka should do a
standing bow when entering and leaving the dojo, and when stepping on to and off the mat.
Sensei will begin and end training by leading the class in
bowing to the shomen. Students should do this from
seiza, first lowering the left hand, then lowering the right hand
so that the two hands form a triangle, and then bowing. When done bowing, the right hand
should first be raised back to the thigh and then the left hand. At Aikido of Arlington, class begins and ends with
bowing twice (shomen-ni-rei), followed by clapping twice
and a third bow accompanied by saying,
“onegai shimasu” at the beginning of class or
“domo arigato gozaimasu” at the end of class.

renzoku 連続

serial, consecutive, continuity, occurring in succession, continuing.

riai 理合

common, unified principles of bokken,
jo, and taijutsu. Aikido was developed from
weapons. As such, the weapons forms are evident in the
taijutsu.

rokkyo 六教

sixth teaching. Rokkyo is an arm bar technique.

ryo 兩

both.

ryotedori 兩手取り

literally “both hands grab”.
Each hand grabs different wrist.

sabaki 捌き

handling, work.

sankyo 三教

third teaching. Sankyo is a rotational wrist locking technique.
Law enforcement are often taught this technique as it allows nage
to move uke while still pinning uke.

seiza 正座

proper sitting. To sit in seiza, first drop the left knee, then the right knee,
and then flatten the toes. The legs should be folded under the body and the sitted position
is on the knees. Toes should be flat when bowing and “live” (toes on the mat) when applying
waza. The knees and feet should be positioned to give the body a
triangular base with about two fists width apart between the knees. Hands should be placed
high on the thighs. To get up, first get on “live” toes, then raise the
right knee, and then the left knee. It is important to sit down in and get up from seiza
in the correct order. Because the sword is carried on the left side, if the knees are
raised and lowered in the wrong order and the sword is drawn or sheathed at the same time,
the likelihood of cutting your own knee or thigh is high.

literally “four direction throw” from
shiho and nage. Nage
raises and steps through uke’s arms, pinning uke’s
hands to his/her own shoulder (elbows are pointed up), and throws. Students are
taught to throw in four basic directions, however, in reality, shihonage can be
performed in any direction (360 degrees).

shikko 膝行

knee walking. In seiza with “live” toes
shift from the hips with the toes kept together, lift one knee up, and then down to move.
Shikko is essential for suwari waza and (as
nage) hanmi handachi,
and for developing strong
hip movements.

shodan 初段

literally "first stage", refers to first degree black belt

shomen 正面

(1) front of the head (2) front of the mat, often where a picture of
O’Sensei and a flower are placed.
Iwamadojos also typically have
a model of the Iwama shrine placed on the shomen.

literally “body handling” from
tai and sabaki. In aikido,
generally refers to the entire body's movement to avoid an attack and
gain an advantageous position.

tai sai 大祭

festival. In aikido, generally refers to a special seminar.

takemusu 武産

improvised martial art.

takemusu aiki 武産合氣

literally “improvised martial art through
harmonized energy” from takemusu and
aiki. O’Sensei
used this phrase to refer to “the spontaneous execution
of limitless techniques”.
Iwama-ryu is sometimes known as Takemusu Aikido.

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